I don't have an opinion for the current XPS 15. My last Dell laptop was an XPS 13 from 2015 or 2016.
My current laptop right now is the Alienware m15 r2, bought last December of 2019 so it's the first generation of the remodeled M15, so that will be the laptop I would be referring to in this comment, unless stated otherwise.
Heat:
If you're using this on top of your lap, I would honestly say do not. Without undervolting or anything that would increase the airflow around the laptop, unless you have it on Max fans, it would be very hot. It would probably reach a temperature wherein you could get mild burns if used for extended periods of time with system-intensive tasks on top of your laptop. Seeing as you're in Canada however, maybe the temps would be better.
Specs and gaming performance:
Seeing as you're using different kinds of software that seems to vary the amount of RAM they need, depending on what you're doing, including compiling code, I presume 16 GB's would be insufficient for you? The XPS 15 might be the better choice here, unless you're planning on playing games that require a lot of power. If it's for games like League, or Diablo, the XPS 15 would serve your purposes excellently. Just don't buy the i9 version. No laptop, except for the M51 and other thick ones, has the thermal capacity to even barely properly cool it, let alone the XPS 15.
Multitasking on this laptop though is pretty smooth. No stutters anywhere except for some software issues that I'm not really sure on what, or which of them is causing it, as some have reported. Then again, never had this problem on my XPS 13 without not knowing which of the programs is causing it.
No opinion on dual-booting, but I imagine it's fine for both either way? A friend of mine installed a Hackintosh on his Inspiron, and I can't imagine their other lineups of laptops would be that different for installing a Linux.
thomaskeano
5 Posts
0
June 24th, 2020 18:00
I don't have an opinion for the current XPS 15. My last Dell laptop was an XPS 13 from 2015 or 2016.
My current laptop right now is the Alienware m15 r2, bought last December of 2019 so it's the first generation of the remodeled M15, so that will be the laptop I would be referring to in this comment, unless stated otherwise.
Heat:
If you're using this on top of your lap, I would honestly say do not. Without undervolting or anything that would increase the airflow around the laptop, unless you have it on Max fans, it would be very hot. It would probably reach a temperature wherein you could get mild burns if used for extended periods of time with system-intensive tasks on top of your laptop. Seeing as you're in Canada however, maybe the temps would be better.
Specs and gaming performance:
Seeing as you're using different kinds of software that seems to vary the amount of RAM they need, depending on what you're doing, including compiling code, I presume 16 GB's would be insufficient for you? The XPS 15 might be the better choice here, unless you're planning on playing games that require a lot of power. If it's for games like League, or Diablo, the XPS 15 would serve your purposes excellently. Just don't buy the i9 version. No laptop, except for the M51 and other thick ones, has the thermal capacity to even barely properly cool it, let alone the XPS 15.
Multitasking on this laptop though is pretty smooth. No stutters anywhere except for some software issues that I'm not really sure on what, or which of them is causing it, as some have reported. Then again, never had this problem on my XPS 13 without not knowing which of the programs is causing it.
No opinion on dual-booting, but I imagine it's fine for both either way? A friend of mine installed a Hackintosh on his Inspiron, and I can't imagine their other lineups of laptops would be that different for installing a Linux.